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“when a language dies, a way of understanding the world dies with it, a way of looking at the world. ”

― George Steiner

 

It was autumn, the kind of Indian summer day that makes one feel that the now is steeped in potential.  My friend Bella was messaging her estranged husband, in full belief that their differences would soon be reconciled.   Instead, their marriage of 10 years ended with the delivery of one line on instant messenger.  “I want a divorce.” In a cold blow, the agency of words on screen removed the writer from his recipient.  I couldn’t help but think about the book on Victorian flower code that I had just read.  How would the nature of the communication shift if instead Bella had received a bouquet of handpicked Ivy and orange Butterflyweed? (Sentiments of marriage and “let me go” )   I began on the Talking Petals project, an experiential text messaging project using the flower code, in the period after this event. 

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The Talking Petals Project merges the poetry of the flower code with the speed of text messaging, the handpicked with the digital.  It would be impractical to grow a flower in our current era, we are so used to speed.  We would find a proxy for free online. Each flower that eventually lands in the archives at the cart is sourced from free use images found online. Each image was digitally traced by hand, then cut out by a digital die-cutter. Visitors at the Talking Petals cart arrange these cut flowers on a green screen , then text the images to recipients. A follow up message with a link to decode the meanings is then sent.

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